They Hex Gryffindors, Don't They?
by evanescentflame421
Summary: "I'm going to sit here as long as I like, and I'm going to do whatever I like, and if you don't like it, then just ignore me and pay attention to your boyfriend." "Sorry, she can't. I'm not her boyfriend anymore."
1. Sugar Quills

_**A/N: So this is just a short story that is going to be about four or five chapters. It's based off of one of my favorite episodes of **_**Gilmore Girls**_ **called 'They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?'**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or Gilmore Girls.**_

_**Summary: The Second Annual Dance Marathon is coming up and Ginny needs a partner. Hermione tries to help her while dealing with her own relationship issues. Her relationship with Ron has been strained since the start of the new school year, and Draco hasn't spoken to her in weeks.**_

_**Reviews would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for reading!**_

**...**

**They Hex Gryffindors, Don't They?**

**Chapter 1**

**Sugar Quills**

"What about that one?" Hermione asked, nodding toward a Hufflepuff sitting at a table near the window. She and Ginny were at the Three Broomsticks, deciding to grab a couple of butterbeers before they had to head back to Hogwarts.

"Hm, no."

"Why not?"

"Too pale."

"So what?"

"Pale means sickly. I need a great dance partner this year. Someone strong, non-klutzy, with lots of stamina," Ginny glanced around the room and pointed, "Ooh, how tall is that guy?

"Millicent Bulstrode is about 6'2".

"Oh! Didn't recognize her from this angle. I still can't believe she came back. I never would've thought finishing her education would be high on her list of priorities." The redhead took a swig of her butterbeer and let out an exasperated sigh. "Last year, I came this close to winning!" she held her thumb an her forefinger about a centimeter apart to emphasize her point. "I swear on Merlin's beard, I had it!"

"I know the story," Hermione said, hoping to stop Ginny from retelling it again.

"It was hour twenty-three," Ginny began.

"I know the story," Hermione repeated.

"I'm dancing with Seamus 'Sugar Quills' Finnigan."

Hermione sighed and looked around the room, "How many people heard me say I know the story?"

About four hands shot up around the room, but Ginny paid no attention to them.

"And Seamus is fading, so I'm trying to buck him up, saying 'Come on, Sugar Quills. Stay with me Sugar Quills,' and then all of a sudden he starts yelling, 'Stop calling me Sugar Quills, it's making me hungry!' And out of nowhere, Michael Corner comes dancing by, waving a pumpkin pasty in the air, and of course Sugar Quills lunges for the pasty, drops my hand, and that was it. Corner wins, I'm out. I'm gonna get that Finnigan someday," Ginny said glaring at her butterbeer.

"I'll help you, Gin."

"I wanna win, 'Mione!" Ginny declared, pounding a small fist on their table.

"I know you do."

"I need a partner!" she wailed and laid her head on the table.

"I know that, too! Don't worry, Ginny, we'll find you one, we just have to keep looking."

Ginny nodded, and sat up to finish her drink. A small smile quickly replaced the frown she wore as she glanced up at her older friend. "Oh Hermione, I can't wait for you to see it! You're going to be absolutely amazed! The decorations are lovely, the music is wonderful, and the atmosphere is so fun! I was so sad that you, Ron, and Harry had to miss it last year."

Hermione nodded and smiled softly, "I can't wait either, Gin. It sounds very fun, from what you told me. I may not be participating, but it'll be nice to see other people dancing, and to spend some time with Harry and Ron as we cheer you on. I'd love to see you beat Corner, as well."

Ginny snorted unattractively and nodded. "He's been acting like such a git since we broke up. It was two years ago, and we weren't even that serious, he should be over it by now!"

In just a month was Hogwarts' Second Annual Dance Marathon. It was a tradition started just the previous year by the teachers to try to distract the students from the war, and allow them to enjoy their childhood while they had the chance. It was suggestion made by the portrait of Dumbledore that hung it the Headmaster's office. He explained to Snape that he had been to one while in the Muggle world and thought that it would be something that the children would enjoy. Snape called all of the other faculty members to his office and said that he had no problem with the idea, so long as he didn't have to do any planning. The dance marathon was a twenty-four hour competition that the students could enter in an attempt to win a giant gold plated trophy and their photo placed on a wall in the Great Hall. Students were also permitted to watch the dance competition and mingle on bleachers that would be conjured on either side of the Great Hall that would serve as the ballroom.

When Ginny had heard about the contest last year, she initially wanted to enter just to have a bit of fun. That changed, however, once her ex, Michael Corner, declared that he was going to "wipe the floor" with her. Ginny, of course, did not take that well and went about looking for a partner. After finding him in the common room and explaining her situation, Seamus, affectionately nicknamed "Sugar Quills" by one of the Honeydukes employees earlier that year, agreed to be her partner. He claimed to be a "bloody fantastic" dancer. And he was, until twenty-two hours into the competition when he began to tire. It was his hunger, though, that ultimately led to his and Ginny's downfall in hour twenty-three. Where Corner had gotten that pumpkin pasty from, she had no idea, but Ginny swore revenge on both men as she watched Corner holding the trophy and jogging around the dance floor running his "victory lap."

"What about Neville?" Hermione asked, hopeful, but Ginny only shook her head.

"I thought about asking - he _is _a lovely dancer - but he's already going with Luna."

"Really?"

"Yes. Luna told me all about it. Apparently he turned about twenty shades of red! She said he looked really adorable!" she giggled. "And besides, I doubt Neville would be able to last twenty-four hours. He barely made it past the eighth hour last year."

"There you two are!"

The girls turned at the sound of the voice and found Ron and Harry walking towards them.

Ron gave Hermione a quick peck on the cheek, and she and Ginny exchanged a look. "It's about time we head back," he said, offering his hand to help Hermione out of her chair.

The other Hogwarts students noticed the time and made there way to leave as well. The four followed the crowd of witches and wizards out of the pub. Ginny and Hermione fell behind, allowing Ron and Harry to walk a few paces ahead of them, chatting about Quidditch.

"You know," Hermione began glancing at Harry's back, "you could always-"

"Don't," Ginny interrupted.

"But I'm sure Harry could-"

"He can't," Ginny shook her head, "I can't."

Hermione sighed in defeat. "No, I suppose you can't."


	2. First of All, You Love Me

**Chapter 2**

**First of All, You Love Me**

'Don't you dare do it,' Hermione thought to herself as she stabbed the meat on her plate.

But she couldn't help but sneak a glance over at the Slytherin table. She set down her fork and pushed her plate away, suddenly not hungry. They were _still_ going at it! Honestly, couldn't they give it a rest? People were _eating_, for Merlin's sake!

"Hermione, are you even listening to me?" her slightly irritated boyfriend asked.

She scoffed, "Of course I was, Ronald! You were talking about how much you're looking forward to the Quidditch match tomorrow."

He beamed at her and continued talking about how they were going to beat Hufflepuff.

She hadn't been listening, of course. She didn't need to. The match was all that he'd been talking about for the last three hours. She was mildly annoyed at him for believing her when she'd obviously been glowering at a certain blonde-haired Slytherin and the pug-faced girl on his lap. She was extremely annoyed at herself for letting them get under her skin, and for not listening to Ron. She really should be listening, or else he would notice that she wasn't paying attention and that would lead to a fight.

She frowned and asked herself how things had gotten so bad between them.

She knew the answer - she was, after all, the brightest witch of her age - but refused to accept it.

She shook her head to banish her thoughts and tried to focus on what Ron was saying.

"Their seeker doesn't stand a chance against Harry!" Ron exclaimed, smiling broadly at his best friend sitting across from him.

"And their keeper is nowhere near as good as ours!" Harry said, returning Ron's smile.

"I am good, aren't I? We're probably the best team Hogwarts has ever had!"

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Ron's arrogance could get quite annoying sometimes.

The boys continued to talk about strategy and Hermione found herself becoming confused. She wasn't particularly interested in Quidditch, and knew nothing about the strategies they were discussing.

She was rescued when Ginny walked through the doors and plopped herself down next to Harry, wearing a very satisfied smirk.

"Ginny, it's about time you showed up! Where have you been?" Hermione asked as Ginny began piling food onto her plate.

"Thinking," the redhead replied with a small smile on her lips. She looked up at Hermione, eyes bright with excitement, "I'll talk to you about it after dinner."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up. This was the most excited Ginny had been in two weeks. Then it clicked. "You've found yourself a partner?"

Ginny only smiled, "I'll talk to you about it after dinner."

Her smile turned into a scowl as she looked at the wall behind the professors. The picture of Michael Corner and his date was smirking at her. Mocking her. She was going to wipe that smirk off his face.

…

Hermione sat down on Ginny's bed and the redhead closed the door behind them.

"So," Hermione prompted, "have you figure out who you want as your dance partner?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." Hermione crossed her legs, allowing Ginny to sit down in front of her.

"Fantastic! Who?" Her younger friend didn't say anything, she merely stared at her. Understanding what this meant, Hermione made her way to leave. "Bye!"

"Come on!" Ginny pleaded grabbing her friends wrist to stop her.

"Forget it," Hermione said but settled back down in her spot across from Ginny.

"Just hear me out," Ginny pleaded. "First of all, you love me."

"Not right at this moment, I don't."

"Second of all, you know how much this contest means to me. You'd never fall asleep or chase a pumpkin pasty."

"I do not dance," Hermione declared as she crossed her arms in defiance.

"Really, because I remember you dancing quite well at the Yule Ball," Ginny argued. " It'll be fun 'Mione! We'll get all dressed up, and you're light - easy to hold up when you get tired."

"Gin!" she whined.

Ginny ignored her and continued, "Plus, we got the whole best-friend-Gryffindor-golden-girls thing going for us. The crowd'll eat that up!"

"I cannot dance with you."

"Why not?" Ginny demanded.

"Because this is my and Ron's first marathon. We were going to go and watch and hang out, he's totally looking forward to it. I told him about how Dean Thomas is probably going to get in a fight with his date in the first fifteen minutes - he did that last year, and at the Yule Ball - and then storm off the dance floor. I told him about how Slughorn went overboard on the firewhiskey last year and went on about his adventures in the Muggle world, and was probably going to do the same this year, considering he's done that at a few meetings as well!"

"Hermione, please."

"And I told him about how when you win, you're going to take your victory lap around the floor and mock Corner for being a loser and a lousy git! We were going to see all these things together, and we were going to see them _sitting down_!"

"He can still come, and he can still see all those things, except if you dance, maybe that victory lap will be you and me instead of just me."

Hermione sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why don't you just ask Zabini to be your partner?"

"Are you mad?" Ginny exclaimed. "You know bloody well that I can't do that! I may not be with Harry anymore but I don't want to give him a heart attack, or make him angry with me! You know he doesn't approve of my friendship with Blaise! Plus, Ronald is bound to throw a fit as well!"

"Then just ask Harry to be your partner! You know he would help you."

Ginny stared at her disbelievingly. "Hermione Jean Granger, you are _not_ going to let me dance with my ex boyfriend for twenty-four hours, are you?"

She sighed in defeat. "Of course I'm not."

The redhead beamed at her, "So you'll do it, then?"

"On two conditions."

"Name them."

"First off, I'm going to pay for you're dress."

Ginny's face fell, "I can't let you-"

"No arguments, Ginevra. I'm buying your bloody dress."

Ginny smiled gratefully, "Okay, what else?"

"Ron has to be okay with me being your dance partner. He was really looking forward to spending some time together. And I thought this would be exactly what we needed to get back to normalcy - a night of fun."

Ginny frowned. "Things still aren't going well for you two?"

Hermione shook her head. "I thought that things would improve once we got back together. I thought that the breakup a couple of months ago would be enough time apart to allow us to… I don't know. Figure out how to improve our relationship. Make things better. Things were fine when we first got together, and sure we began to fight after a while, but our relationship has been especially strained since school started."

"You mean things have been especially strained since two weeks after school started."

Hermione snorted, "Yes, my friendship with Draco has caused many problems. They're both extremely hostile towards each other. But I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, considering Draco won't even look in my direction."

Recalling a night from about three months ago - mid-January - Ginny pulled her friend into a hug. She felt really sorry for Hermione.

She and Hermione had gone to the Slytherin/Ravenclaw game and stayed at the pitch with Draco and Blaise to hang out afterwards. After a couple of hours it was getting dark, Hermione and Draco decided to go up to the astronomy tower to look at the stars, and Blaise offered to walk Ginny to her dormitory.

Ginny walked through the portrait hole and began removing her scarf when she noticed Ron sitting in a chair, staring at the fire.

He glanced up at her and then back to the fire.

"She likes Malfoy, doesn't she?" he asked quietly.

Ginny's mouth opened, then shut, as she tried to think of what to say.

Before she had a chance to respond, he got up and walked up to his dormitory.


	3. Your Kind of Guy

**Chapter 3**

**Your Kind of Guy**

"C'mon, let's grab a couple of butterbeers and wait for the crowd to die down," Ginny suggested as she pulled Hermione toward the Three Broomsticks. The dance marathon was next weekend and Gladrags Wizardwear was overflowing with customers.

Hermione offered to get their drinks, then made her way to the table Ginny was sitting at. "So, do you have any idea about what kind of dress you want?"

Ginny nodded. "I was actually thinking that we could get matching dresses, but in different colors. You red, and me gold."

"Wow, you really do want to work that Gryffindor angle, don't you?"

The ginger nodded vigorously. "Yes, I think it will get a lot of attention. All of the other couples competing are boy/girl, so we'll already be noticed, but I want all eyes on us. Though that shouldn't be a problem at all, considering I'll have the best looking date there!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Hermione commanded, holding one hand up. "_I_ will have the best looking date there!"

"Okay," Ginny amended, "_we_ will have the most amazing looking dates in the history of the Hogwarts Annual Dance Marathon!"

Hermione agreed and they shared a laugh, but it was cut short by Hermione gazing out the window. Her abrupt silence caused Ginny to look over as well.

Ginny made a disgusted noise and turned her attention back to her curly-haired friend who was scowling at her drink. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about. He's a foul git. An obnoxious prat. He always has been."

"Really, because you didn't think so some odd weeks ago."

"Yes, well, that was then, this is now."

"And what is so different about then and now?"

"Then, he wasn't a prat, and now, he is. He has been since Ron and I got back together. The only time he's spoken to me since then was when he was insulting either me or Ron. He should keep his bloody comments to himself! You don't see me drawling to him about how much of a whore that pug-faced Parkinson is!"

"And why do you think he's been acting like a git since you've gotten back together with Ron?"

"Because he and Ron can't stand each other, I suppose. But, I still don't understand it - they always had their spats but he never took his frustration out on me, until now that is. That was always Ronald's job."

Ginny nodded, recalling the times she'd seen Ron go off on her in the common room for hanging around the Slytherin. Hermione never took that very well, so she would explode as well. The only difference was that Hermione only argued to defend Draco and their friendship. Ron always started the fights out of jealousy and insecurity - even before he had a reason to be jealous.

"Honestly, Hermione, for the brightest witch of our age, you're awfully daft. Malfoy is acting like a git because he's jealous!"

"You're mad!" Hermione declared taking another drink of her butterbeer and then slamming the glass on the table.

Ginny shook her head. "_I_ am not mad. _You_ are simply in denial. Draco likes you, and I am fairly certain that you have feelings for him as well."

"Okay, you're not mad. _You're deranged_! I could never have feelings for that blasted ferret," the dark-haired witch spat as she locked eyes with the redhead.

"Really, because I remember you saying that he's changed and that you felt like he was becoming one of your best friends."

"Yes, well, I was wrong," she replied sadly.

"Look, he's obviously only snogging Pansy to get to you. He probably felt very hurt and rejected when you got back together with Ron."

"Even if that's true, that does not mean that he has to destroy our friendship!"

"He's hurt, Hermione! And he's a Slytherin - it's in his nature to be spiteful. I know that he's changed, but old habits die hard."

"Are you seriously taking his side?" she asked indignantly.

"No," Ginny said, reaching across to pry Hermione's hands of her glass and taking them into hers, "I'm on your side. You like him Hermione, I could see it every time you looked at him. I can see it now, when you're seething. I heard it in your voice every time you talked about him. And when he stopped talking to you, I saw how much it hurt you."

Hermione pulled her hands away and took another drink. Ginny did as well, noticing that she'd barely touched hers since they sat down.

"I love Ronald," came Hermione's quiet reply.

"I know you do, but is it really the kind of love you think it is? Romantic love?"

"Of course," the brunette answered immediately.

"Why?" her Ginny challenged, "What do you love about him?"

"I've had a crush on him since first year. He's my best friend, Gin. We've been through everything together."

"Is that all you've got?" She scoffed. "'Mione, feelings change. We've grown up. You're not in first year anymore. Look at the way things are going for you two now, how awkward and just plain wrong things are. I would love to have you marry into the family and become my sister-in-law, but I do not see that happening. I know Ron is my brother and I shouldn't speak ill of him, but he just isn't right for you. He's messy, obnoxious, and not very bright."

She shook her head. "What we're going through right now is just a phase. We'll get through it. We love each other."

Ginny let out a defeated sigh and finished up her drink. "Look, we don't we just drop this subject. I'll go get us a couple of more butterbeers, then we can go to Gladrags."

Hermione smiled gratefully, "That sounds like a good idea."

Ginny gave her a small smile and got up to go get their drinks.

She felt bad for Hermione. She knew that her friend had feelings for Draco, but was repressing them. Hermione felt like she _had_ to stay with Ronald. Like it was her duty. Ginny had felt the same way after she and Harry had gotten together. He was immensely sweet, caring, and wonderful, but he was also too reserved for her liking. There was no spark. She stayed with him, though, because she felt it was what she was supposed to do. After a while, her sense of self-duty overpowered her and she ended it. Harry still had feelings for her, and it hurt her to see him still hurting. She wished Hermione would do the same, but her selflessness and strong sense of loyalty was making it very difficult for her. Hermione had stood beside her and defended her actions when people got angry with her for breaking Harry's heart. She understood what Ginny had been feeling, just like Ginny understood that her friend was currently feeling the same way. Ginny only wanted her best friend to be happy.

She paid for the drinks and then made her way back to the table.

Hermione sat trying to deny the truth of Ginny's words.

She loved Ron.

A memory came back to her as she stared at the bottom of her empty glass.

"_She tells the person she's singing to that she can see through the façade, and understands, but hiding won't help, and deep down, she knows that it's not what that person wants."_

_He nodded slowly, enjoying the lovely view of the stars the Astronomy Tower offered. "And what did you say the song was called?"_

"'_Where Will You Go' by that American band that I told you about, Evanescence. They just released their first EP - extended play - before the holidays. They only made about one hundred copies and my cousin who lives in America managed to get me one for Christmas," she chattered happily._

_A small smile graced his lips and he glanced over at the curly-haired witch that used to be his enemy. "May I ask you something?"_

_She turned to him, "Of course."_

"_What do you and Weaselbee-"_

"_Draco," she warned._

"_Sorry, what do you and Weasley talk about?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean," he began, turning to face her, "do you discuss the poetic genius of The Beatles? Does he know about your current infatuation with Evanescence? Do you talk about songs that remind you of each other - like 'Where Will You Go' or that other one you told me about, 'True Colors'?"_

"_Ron's never been particularly interested in music."_

"_Then what do you talk about?"_

"_Why?"_

"_Just curious."_

_She shrugged, "I don't know. Anything. Everything."_

_He turned his gaze back to the sky. "It's just, from what I've seen in class, around school, and civil conversations I've tried to have for your sake, he just doesn't seem like your kind of guy."_

"Here's your butterbeer m'lady," Ginny chirped, placing the glass in front of her, pulling her back to reality.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem. Now, let's finish these so we can go find our dresses."

Ginny sipped happily and started chattering on about how Michael Corner was beginning to break out.

Hermione watched her younger friend, taking in how happy she was and thinking about the discussion they'd just had.

Maybe Ronald really wasn't her kind of guy.


	4. Leather Skirt, Shagging, & Lacy Panties

**Chapter 4**

**A Leather Skirt, Shagging, and Lacy Panties **

"I have to say, for a couple of modern girls, we sure have time-warped with the best of 'em." Ginny said proudly to Hermione as they made their way toward the Great Hall.

"We had better look like we came straight from the 1930s, considering you woke me up at four-bloody-thirty to get ready!" Hermione snapped and leaned her head against Ginny's arm.

"Well, I can assure you, 'Mione, we look stunning. Now, how are you feeling?"

"Early," she grumbled.

"Yes, it is a tad early."

"It's five-thirty on a Saturday morning!"

"I know, 'Mione. I'm sorry, but I didn't decide what time it would start."

"I can't even open my eyes."

"That's okay," Ginny cooed as they neared the entrance, "there's nothing to see. Corner is in a tight leather skirt, Dean Thomas and Sugar Quills are shagging against the wall, Slughorn is wearing pink, lacy panties."

"Oh dear Merlin, stop!" Hermione's eyes shot open and she lifted her head from Ginny's arm. "I'm never going be able to close my eyes again!"

"I knew that would get you up!" Ginny giggled.

"I hate you."

"No, you don't!" the younger girl chirped. "Now come on, let's go in! Then, we can go find the coffee stand that they set up. The coffee is particularly delicious during the dance marathon!"

"Yes, coffee!" Hermione said as she allowed herself to be pulled by Ginny into the Great Hall.

As they stepped into the room, Hermione found herself amazed by what she saw. The lights were dim, but Christmas lights were hung across the walls, each wall twinkling with a house color. The ceiling was decorated with white lights and streamers that lead from the center out to the walls. The streamers were the secondary colors of each house. The floor was wider than usual and was made of a light brown wood. Bleachers that Hermione had seen in public muggle schools sat on the right and left sides of the dance floor, where people were already mingling and chattering excitedly. At the front of the room, a swing band was setting up, and next to them sat two chairs and a podium for the judges to monitor the competition. Behind the band was the picture of Michael Corner and his date after their victory last year.

"Isn't it lovely?" the redhead asked, gazing around the room as well.

"It most certainly is."

Before they could say anything else, Slughorn began to speak at the front of the room.

"Good morning, students, lovely to see you all at our Second Annual Dance Marathon," there were loud cheers from the crowd of students and he paused a moment so that they could die down. "Now, I, along with Professor McGonagall will be judging this competition and making sure that the rules are being followed. With that being said, let's review the rules. There will be absolutely no use of magic in any form. All wands were expected to be left in your quarters, and the use of any type of energy potion has been forbidden. Coffee is being served here, and works well to provide you young ones with energy. All couples must be touching at all times. All couples must remain moving at all times. The only time you may stop moving or stop touching is when you hear this horn," he raised a giant silver horn and pressed a button that let out a loud noise that filled the Great Hall. "That sound means you have ten minutes. Ten minutes to get a drink, to eat a snack, take a rest, or whatever it is you can do in ten minutes. And in addition to the ten-minute rest periods, every person participating has been issued a yellow emergency card. In case of emergency, a contestant may hold up the card and leave the floor for fifteen minutes. If your partner remains on the floor and moving the entire time, then the owner of the yellow card may rejoin them and the contest. First aid is available just outside the Great Hall. Please, remember, that if you feel yourself getting lightheaded or having shooting pains or any other potentially dangerous symptoms, please move off to the side so that your collapse will not get in the way of the other dancers," Slughorn said with a chuckle.

"All right, people, lace your shoes, pin those curls, because we only have ten minutes left until we start. And, all those who haven't yet received their yellow cards, please come up and get one," he finished.

"Ten minutes left? Ginny, did we honestly take twenty minutes to get down here?" the curly haired witch asked disbelievingly. They began walking towards Professor Slughorn to pick up their yellow card.

The redhead smirked, "You really are terribly slow when you're tired, 'Mione." Her tired friend scowled at her. Ginny reached out for their card and thanked Slughorn. "Well," she turned back to her perturbed friend, "I believe ten minutes is plenty of time for some coffee."

"Yes, coffee, please!"

Coffee and Hermione became good friends a few years back when she would stay up late to study for a test that she was already prepared for. Ginny and coffee used to just be acquaintances, but after the dance marathon last year, they became very close friends.

Ginny looked to her right and saw the coffee stand near the entrance, a short distance away from the bleachers.

"C'mon, let's go," she grabbed Hermione's arm and they ran to go greet their dear friend.

"Hey, we're dying, load us up," Ginny said to the student who was currently turned toward the wall, having a conversation with a young Slytherin.

The younger boy walked away, leaving them alone with the keeper of the coffee. "My, don't you two look ravishing?"

A wide grin spread across the younger Gryffindor's face, while a smirked graced the lips of the older Gryffindor. "What are you doing here, Zabini?"

"Well, I remembered how much you visited this particular stand last year, so I volunteered to man it. Every break you had, you came here and Sugar Quills would visit the snack stand across the room."

"Been keeping tabs on me, have you?"

"Always safer to know which direction the jinx's coming from," he smirked. "Morning Hermione, you look stunning."

"Good morning, Blaise. And thank you."

"I can see that Ginny really decided to play that 'Gryffindor Girls' card," he said smirking again.

Hermione and Ginny were wearing matching dresses in opposite colors like Ginny had suggested. They were halter dresses that flared out at the waist and fell to just above their waists. The fabric around the torso was the opposite color of the rest of the dress, though. Ginny's dress was gold with a scarlet torso, and Hermione's was scarlet with a golden torso. Hermione decided to purchase a pair of golden flats to go with her dress, while Ginny opted for red strappy heels, which made her a few inches taller than her friend. Ginny wore her hair curled and half-up in a ponytail. She wore a red ribbon around her neck and a ruby ring on her right ring finger. Hermione's hair started as two braids that met at the base of her neck and joined together as a ponytail. There were a few golden bangles on both of her wrists.

"Yes, I did, now will you please give is some coffee?"

"It isn't ready yet."

"What?" Ginny asked, with an edge of hysteria in her voice.

"Ginny," Hermione whimpered, turning her doe eyes toward her slightly taller friend.

"What do you mean it's not ready? It's six in the morning. Nothing says coffee like six in the morning!"

Blaise simply smirked and pulled out a thermos from under the table. "I knew you would need coffee, so I brewed this earlier." He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "You did not get this from me."

"Then who do we send our kisses of gratitude to?" the redhead asked teasingly as he handed the thermos to Hermione.

"Oh don't worry, I'll accept my payment later," he said with a wink.

"Thank you, Blaise." She poured a bit into the thermos lid and took a drink. "Mm, that's really delicious."

"Is it?" Hermione offered her the cup and she took a long drink. "That _is_ delicious. I should have you make my coffee every day, Zabini."

"It would be my pleasure, Weasley."

"Ginny! 'Mione! There you guys are!"

Ginny flinched then plastered a smile on her face as they turned to face Harry.

"You guys look amazing!" he complimented as her gave his ex a quick hug and his best friend a longer one and a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Harry. Where's Ronald?" Hermione asked, looking toward the entrance.

His wide grin faltered as his eyes met Hermione's. "Oh, he decided to sleep in a bit. He'll be here later, though. He can't wait to see your victory lap!" He smiled warmly at her and gave her shoulder another squeeze.

"All right, students," Slughorn's voice rang through the room with the use of a muggle megaphone. All couples on the floor. We're two minutes away. I repeat, everybody on the floor, we are two minutes away."

"Good luck, Hermione. I'll be cheering you on from the bleachers. You'll be great!" She gave him another hug, then he turned to Ginny. "Good luck," he offered with a small nod.

She gave him a tight smile. "Thanks, Harry."

He walked off to where Neville and Luna were sitting with a few other Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.

Ginny offered the thermos to Hermione who took in several big gulps. She took another drink and then held out the thermos to the dark-skinned Slytherin. "Take care of this for us, will you, Zabini?" There was no eating or drinking allowed on the dance floor.

"Anything for you, Ginevra."

Hermione grabbed her hand and they made their way to leave.

"Hey," the Slytherin called, causing them to turn around, "good luck!"

The two Gryffindors found a spot on the floor and waited for the countdown to begin.

"Ginny," came a challenging voice from the side of her that Hermione was not preoccupying.

"Corner," she greeted in the same tone.

"Good luck to you," he said, offering his hand.

"And to you," she responded curtly, ignoring the peace offering.

Corner frowned as he and his date, a fifth year Ravenclaw, took their leave.

"All right, everybody, grab your partners, and let the countdown begin!"

Ginny gave Hermione's hand another squeeze, and then took her other one into her own as they began counting with the rest of the crowd.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"

Slughorn's voice rang through the room again as the band began to play. "It's showtime!"


	5. Look Who's Suddenly Interested in Dance

**Chapter 5**

**Look Who's Suddenly Interested in Dance**

_***Six hours into the marathon***_

"Would you tell me what you're smirking about already? You start smirking every time you look over at Blaise and then let out a giggle. You've been doing it for the last few hours, now please tell me what is so bloody amusing."

"I will in a moment. Corner is coming over here. Twirl me."

Ginny did as she was told and wore a smug smile as Corner and his partner neared them, looking very serious.

"Hey Corner, relax," the Ginny suggested. "Dancing's supposed to be fun."

"You know what will be fun, Ginevra?" Corner asked lifting an eyebrow. "Jogging around your prostrate body with that shiny temple of silver importance hoisted in the air for all to see. That will be fun."

Both girls stared after him in disbelief as he danced away.

"Gin, what did you ever see in him? The boy is clearly disturbed."

"Oh, who knows?" she huffed. "I was young and naïve and he wasn't as annoying back then," she reasoned as she sent another glare to the back of his head. "Now, why do you keep smirking whenever you see Blaise?"

"I just find it incredibly amusing that you have so much power over him," the older witch explained.

Lifting an eyebrow, Ginny asked, "What do you mean?"

"When was the last time you saw Blaise Zabini doing manual labor of any kind? Honestly, Gin, would you ever have imagined Blaise Zabini _volunteering_ to serve coffee at a school event? I know you never have. And look at him now. He's serving coffee at an event that means the world to _you_, so that he can watch _you_, and spend time with _you_ on your breaks." Hermione glanced over to the coffee stand and saw Blaise watching them. "You, my dear friend, have Blaise Zabini wrapped around your pretty little finger. He's obviously mad about you."

A light pink tinted Ginny's cheeks. "And you are telling me this because…?"

"Because it's funny," Hermione replied with a cheeky grin. "And," she added as her friend began to glare at her, "because you like him, but you're afraid of rejection. I just want you to know that you have nothing to fear."

"I'm not afraid," the younger witch declared haughtily.

Hermione arched an eyebrow, challenging her friend. "Oh really?"

Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but then broke out into a wide grin. "Come on," she urged as she gently pushed her friend back as they swayed to the music.

"What?" the naturally-curly-haired witch asked as she surveyed the room in an attempt to find the source of her friend's change in mood. She glanced behind her and to her left and broke out into a smile that rivaled Ginny's. After a few more steps they reached Ron at the edge of the dance floor.

"Blimey, you guys look great," he complimented after he gave them a warm smile.

"Ron, you came!" she yelled, delighted. The look that Harry had given her earlier made her believe that her boyfriend wasn't going to show up at all.

"Hermione, you're standing!"

"We had coffee," Ginny explained.

He chuckled, "I can tell. So, how's it going? Corner drop out yet?"

"Oh, it's been pretty quiet so far, but…" Hermione began, her gaze turning to Ginny.

The younger witch glanced at the clock set up at the front of the room and nodded. "Yes, it seems about that time, doesn't it?" she responded, a smirk spreading across both her and her partner's face.

Ronald opened his mouth to ask what they were going on about, but was interrupted.

"You went out with Cormac McLaggen! Are you kidding me?" Dean Thomas was shouting at Parvati Patil, his girlfriend for the past few weeks, staying true to tradition. He and his dates always got into arguments whenever there was some sort of dance.

"Just like last year!" Ginny giggled.

"_Why_ would you ever tell me that you went out with Cormac McLaggen? Why would you bloody do that?"

"Because I was trying to be honest!" Parvati shrieked back.

Dean tore his hands away from Parvati's and took a step back. "I don't believe that A, you actually went out with Cormac McLaggen, and B, that you would choose to tell me now, at this moment, that you went out with Cormac McLaggen!" With that, Dean stormed off toward the exit, leaving Parvati fuming.

After a moment she huffed and followed after him. "Dean!"

"No!"

"Dean!"

"Bugger off, you bloody woman!" he shouted, turning to face her. "I can't stand Cormac McLaggen!" He stormed away again, passing the trio that was currently trying to contain their laughter.

As soon as Parvati passed them as well, Hermione turned to whisper to the two gingers, "Actually, she never went out with McLaggen. At Slughorn's party in sixth year, he mentioned that she stalked him for the majority of the first semester. He said he had no interest in her as he found her quite annoying."

"Oh, I remember her fancying him that year! I guess she needed something to preoccupy her time since Lavender stuck to Ron like glue. She hardly spent time with Parvati while you two were dating," Ginny said to her brother.

A light blush tinted his cheeks and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Okay, well, uh, I'm just gonna go sit over there with Harry and watch for awhile."

"Great."

He gave them a small wave as he turned to join his best friend.

"Well, he looked rather embarrassed," Ginny commented as she lifted Hermione into the air and set her down.

The brunette had a puzzled look on her face as she twirled her friend. "I don't understand why. It was two years ago."

"Maybe he thought it'd upset you?"

She scoffed. "They dated for what, half an hour? I was over them before they even broke up."

They pondered in silence for a moment before their attention was drawn to Michael Corner and his date. They were a few paces away when Michael placed his hands on his date's waist she and proceeded to do a cartwheel. He sneered at his ex before he and his date danced away.

"Flip all you want, you prat!" Ginny yelled after him. "It's who's left standing at the end that matters, not how fancy you are getting there." She turned her attention to Hermione, "Let me flip you."

"No way."

"Come on!" the redhead urged.

"You are not flipping me!"

"Fine," she groaned.

"Fine."

"You flip me."

"No need, Gin, you've already flipped."

"One cartwheel," she pleaded.

"Silence," Hermione ordered, her friend's pleading look having no effect on her.

The younger girl gave an exaggerated sigh, but obliged. They danced comfortably to the music until Professor Slughorn's voice rang through the room.

"Unauthorized persons on the dance floor. Unauthorized persons on the dance floor. Security! Security!" Slughorn yelled, slightly tipsy.

Everyone's attention turned to the duo making their way through across the dance floor, towards the bleachers nearest the Gryffindor girls. The pair sat down on the bottom step of the bleachers and then proceeded to sttempt to suck each other's face off.

"Well, look who's suddenly interested in dance," Ginny sneered as she watched them. When she got no response she looked to her partner who was still glowering at the two. She stole a glance at her brother who was glaring at the back of Malfoy's head. The redhead shook her head, not believing how messed up everything seemed to be.

A horn sounded, causing everyone to jump as Slughorn announced a ten minute break.

Hermione immediately dropped Ginny's hand and ran towards her brother. He noticed her approach and opened his arms, ready to embrace her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently.

Ginny watched and then looked over at the blonde Slytherin who was sending them a death glare. The girl who had previously been attached to his face was too distracted by several Slytherin couples she was conversing with to notice. Ginny sighed softly and then went to go join Blaise. She was in desperate need of coffee.

…

_***Twenty hours into the marathon* **_

"Corner!" Ginny whisper-yelled into Hermione's ear.

"Mm?" She lifted her head from the crook of Ginny's neck as they both began to move livelier.

Out of the 213 couples that entered the competition, only 32 of them remained. Many people who had come to watch the dance marathon had either gone to bed hours ago or fallen asleep on the bleachers. Harry and Ron were part of the latter group. Unfortunately, so were Malfoy and Parkinson. Parkinson was sleeping soundly, but Draco had just woken up from a nap and was watching Hermione intently.

The older witch noticed this and groaned, "How much longer?"

"Oh, chin up soldier. We should be getting a break pretty soon."

"I would hope so. It feels like we've been dancing for centuries!"

"Hey, Hermione! Hey, Ginny!" called a tired and happy voice.

"Hey, Neville!" they greeted in unison.

"You're holding up better than last year, I see," Ginny beamed at him and Luna.

"Yeah," he blushed. "Luna's been keeping me awake by telling me about all the fascinating creatures her and her father encountered over the winter holiday."

"They really were spectacular," Luna added in her airy voice.

The two Gryffindors exchanged a look as they danced next to the couple. They really seemed to be the perfect match.

A horn sounded, though this one, unlike the one before, had a melodious chime.

Loud groans came from every couple on the floor, and some of the spectators that had woken up shot them looks of pity.

"Oh sweet Merlin," Ginny wailed.

"What, what?" Hermione asked, worried.

"The runaround," Ginny said as though it explained everything.

Hermione allowed herself to be pulled by Ginny to the side of the dance floor where all the other couples seemed to be gathering. "The runaround? That does _not_ sound good."

Ginny pulled them to the middle of the crowd and they were soon joined by Neville and Luna. "I'm sorry, 'Mione. I'm so, so sorry."

Her apologies were stopped by Slughorn's voice ringing through the room, "Ladies and Gentlemen, on your marks. . . get set. . . and go!"

Everyone took off running and Hermione stumbled, but caught herself, shooting her best friend a menacing look.

"Round and round they go, who will get eliminated, nobody knows!" Slughorn sang cheerfully, his words slurring slightly. "But the last five couples that finish behind the red line are automatically out, so hold onto your partner and move, move, move!"

"You're getting too much pleasure out of this, Horace," Professor McGonagall scolded as she watched her students run around the room, pitying them.

"C'mon Neville, you can make it! Keep going!" Ginny encouraged her friend as he and Luna ran alongside Hermione and herself.

"I need to interject for one second to tell you that I hate you!" Hermione told Ginny.

"Thanks, 'Mione."

"Luna!" Neville gasped. "I can't do this anymore!"

"Okay, then. Let's stop."

"Really?" he asked, looking as if it were too good to be true.

"Of course," she giggled. "We can go have a snack and watch Hermione and Ginny from the bleachers." Neville sighed gratefully as he and the dreamy blonde made their way out of the mob of people.

Hermione and Ginny sped up as they neared the front of the crowd.

"I think I'm going to die," Hermione admitted.

"Me first."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know," Ginny winced. It felt like they'd been running for ages. "I just know that last year I blocked this part out."

"I will never let you block out this year, Ginevra Weasley."

Feeling crowded from behind, Ginny turned around and found Corner on their heels.

"Corner, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm drafting you.

"Well, stop it!"

"You can't tell me where to run!" he spat.

"Corner, I swear to Merlin, don't make me come back there!" she warned.

Before they realized it, they had passed the finish line and as they slowed to a trot, a horn sounded.

"Ten minute break everyone, ten minute break. Well run. Ten minute break, everyone. Ten minute break."

Upon hearing the announcement, the two Gryffindor girls collapsed onto the floor, as many others did, and tried to regulate their breathing.

Hermione started moving her leg that was closest to Ginny back and forth.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to kick you but I can't reach."

"I would help you but I can't move."

"Can I owe you one?"

"Yeah, no problem," Ginny responded squeezing her eyes shut. "Okay, okay, heart returning to normal. I have to use the loo. I'll go and then afterwards I'll meet you at the coffee stand."

Hermione took a deep breath then nodded. "I'll swing by the snack table and grab us a couple of finger sandwiches and some sweets."

"Good idea," they redhead said as she lifted herself up. She then offered a hand to her friend and pulled her up. "This is fun, isn't it?"

"Uh huh, big fun," she said sarcastically as they parted ways.

Hermione made her way to her now-awake boyfriend who was rubbing his eyes and fighting back a yawn. "Hey, you," she greeted as she pecked him on the cheek.

"Morning," he greeted. "Did you and Gin win yet?"

"No, not yet. We just got another break. You want to go get some food with me?"

He nodded and took her hand as they made their way across the room.

When they got to the table Ron immediately began to stuff his face, while Hermione grabbed a napkin and piled several small sandwiches on it for Ginny and herself. She reached for another napkin and placed a couple of cookies on it, before reaching for a mini-cake.

"Careful Granger," came a voice from behind her as she placed the cake on her napkin, "you wouldn't want to look like a pig like your dear boyfriend now, would you?" Ron glared at him, but Draco ignored it. He reached around the witch and grabbed a napkin placing several sweets on it.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, annoyed.

"I live and attend school here."

"Do you have nothing better to do than to sit around inside a ballroom all day staring at a dance marathon?" she challenged.

The blonde shrugged, "I don't know." He turned his attention to her boyfriend. "Do you have nothing better to do than sit inside a ballroom all day staring at a dance marathon?"

"I wouldn't direct any sort of comment toward me if I were you, Malfoy."

"I'm just trying to support my friends," he explained. Turning his gaze back to the irritated witch.

"Friends?" she scoffed. "I didn't think you had any friends. Only escorts."

"Ooh. Zing," his voice dripping with sarcasm as he placed his hand over his chest, "That hurt."

She glared. "Do you actually think you're bothering me sitting in front of me staring like that?

He sneered. "Do you actually think you're bothering me dancing in front of me staring like that?"

"I'm not staring at you," she protested.

"Then how do you know I'm staring at you?"

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I am dancing. I cannot control where my glance goes. And the few moments that I can control it, my glance goes to Ron, not to you."

He barked a laugh. "So you can't control when you look at me, but you have to force yourself to look at him? Sorry, Weasel. That's cold."

"My former comment still stands."

"Go away," the brunette demanded.

"No, thanks."

"Then get out of my way," she hissed.

"Didn't realize I was in your way. There you go," he said stepping away from the snack table. "It's all yours. You know, if Weaselbee doesn't devour the whole table first.

Before Hermione could retort they were joined by Pansy Parkinson.

"What's taking you so long? I've been sitting over there for twenty minutes."

He handed her the napkin filled with sweets without looking at her. "The break's only for ten."

She bit into a pumpkin pasty and waved her hand dismissively, "It's just a saying."

"Would it kill you to swallow before you speak?" Hermione snapped.

She black-haired witch cocked an eyebrow. "You don't seem to mind so much when your lap dog does it."

"'Mione, get your stuff and let's go."

"Ooh, that was good," Draco smirked. "Now say, 'then get in there and make me my supper.'"

Hermione grabbed the two napkins from the table, shot a glare at the Slytherins, then stalked away.

"What's got her wand in a knot?" Pansy asked, well into her third pasty.

He shrugged as he watched her join Blaise and Ginny. "I'm going to the loo," he said, leaving Pansy to stuff herself.


	6. I Tried to Ignore This

**Final Chapter**

**Chapter 6**

**I Tried to Ignore This**

_***23 and a half hours into the marathon***_

"And then he came up to me and said 'what is this in your ear' and he pulled out a bright shiny coin and then whole room began to laugh and clap. I did as well, it was quite impressive," Slughorn recounted to his fellow judge. The same thing happened last year. He had a few - nine - glasses of firewhiskey and was telling Minerva about the brief time he spent in the Muggle World just after his infamous Christmas party.

"Yes, I'm sure it was, Horace," she said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. Have you ever seen a muggle levitate a rottweiler?"

"No."

"I didn't think he could do it, but he did! I remember the whole room standing up and applauding. And I remember he had a wand and a shiny black top hat. . ." he trailed off as his eyes closed and he let out a light snore. She sighed and reached out for the megaphone so that she could announce the winner when the time came, since she didn't think he'd be waking up anytime soon.

As she pulled the device away gently, his head snapped up. "What are you doing?

She rolled her eyes again. "I was just-"

"You tried to take my megaphone," he growled, pulling said object to his chest.

"No. You seemed to be asleep, so-"

"No one touches my megaphone. No one."

At this she raised her eyebrows up challengingly. "What do you mean -

"Guards!" Slughorn interrupted, looking around for the non-existent security.

"- no one touches your megaphone?" she finished. She was the bloody Headmistress!

"Guards!"

Without realizing what she was doing, she poked his megaphone. "How's that...take that!" she said as she poked it again. She felt extremely childish, yes, but he was acting childish _and_ selfish… Maybe she'd had one too many glasses of firewhiskey as well.

"Hey! Hey!" he barked, pulling the megaphone out of her reach.

…

The band was playing a slow song and the remaining five couples were swaying sleepily to the music.

Hermione's head was resting against Ginny's head, with Ginny's head lying gently on hers. "Tell me a joke," the half-asleep redhead demanded.

Behind them, another couple collapsed with a "thud" noise, reminding Hermione of a joke. "Knock knock," she began, sounding just as tired.

Ginny was silent for a moment, but then giggles began rocking her body. "That was a good one," she murmured. Suddenly her right heel hit the ground and she let out a loud, "Ow!"

Hermione's head snapped up as she heard her friend's cry. "You okay?"

"Oh no!" Ginny wailed as she bent down to pick up something.

"What?"

"My bloody heel broke."

"What?" Hermione yawned.

"My heel just broke off! Damn, these are brand new shoes, too."

"Gin, the saleswoman said they were made in 1943."

"Well, I just bought them last weekend!" she argued.

"I told you not to wear vintage shoes."

"But the lady at the store said that they hadn't been worn a lot."

"Yes, but not 'a lot' in fifty years is still a lot."

"I have to fix it! I'll use my emergency card. I'll be right back," she said, sliding off both shoes.

"No, stop," she demanded half-heartedly as she grasped both of Ginny's arms. "If you leave, there's no way I'll be able to stand up on my own."

"Fifteen minutes!" her friend pleaded.

"Nighty-night," she murmured, laying her head down again.

The younger girl threw her head back in frustration. "Fine, hold on. Ron, get your bloody arse over here! Ronald!"

"What are you doing?" the dark-haired witch asked nervously.

"Winning."

"Is everything all right?" Ron asked as he approached the tired witches.

His sister rolled her eyes. Of course everything was not all right! He saw her standing with no shoes on and his girlfriend looking dead on her feet! "Yeah, it's great. Stand here," she commanded as she draped her friend's arm across his shoulder, still holding her hand so that her fifteen minutes wouldn't begin. "Look, I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Sooner if I can. Do _not_ let her stop or lay down, do you understand me?"

He hesitantly wrapped his arms around his girlfriends waist, which caused her to stiffen a bit. He didn't notice as he was too busy shooting his sister a distressed look. "But I -"

"I need you, Ron. The team needs you!" she yelled.

"What team?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

She licked her lips as her mind tried to locate the knowledge that was his favorite team. _Oh, to hell with it_, she thought. "Pick a team - it needs you! I'll be right back." She lifted her yellow card into the air and it vanished, signaling the beginning of her fifteen minutes. She picked up her shoes and broken heel and ran as fast as her tired legs would carry her.

"I'm really sorry about this," Hermione mumbled as she straightened herself, more awake now that she was in her boyfriend's arms.

He gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, uh, it's okay."

"Are you sure?" she asked as she brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah," his smile growing wider at the contact. He pecked her lips and locked his hands behind her back. "Actually, it's not bad at all."

Seeing a certain silver-eyed boy glaring at her boyfriend's back, she had to disagree. It was that bad.

…

Blaise was watching as a young girl tried to pour coffee down her unconscious date's throat, in front of the stand. "I think that one's a goner, Miss." He turned around and was greeted by the sight of Ginny charging towards him. She stopped and grabbed his arm, then began running again.

She pushed him out of the entrance and he stumbled.

"What the hell, Ginny?"

"My shoe broke! I need your wand to fix it." She took off running again and he was forced to keep up. "We need to get to your room so I can get your wand!"

"Magic isn't allowed!"

She rolled her eyes. He didn't want to break the rules at a time like this? "I know the rules, Zabini. Magic is only forbidden if it's trying to give someone the upper hand - like hexing a competitor or taking an energy potion - I'm trying to even the playing field, which was lowered when my heel decided to snap off."

"Why can't you use yours?"

"Because your room is closer and I only have fifteen bloody minutes!" She sped up a bit, leaving Blaise a good five feet away in a matter of seconds. "Come on, will you? It's no wonder we kick your slimy arses at Quidditch; you're so bloody slow!"

Blaise said nothing, but increased his speed.

After a full two minutes and thirty seconds of running at top speed, they stood outside of the Slytherin dormitories, panting.

"The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Bloody-Die!" Blaise gasped out as he tried to breathe.

They rushed inside and the Italian jogged toward the boys' dormitory as the redhead collapsed on an armchair.

He came back a moment later, wand in hand, and collapsed onto the armchair next to her. "Let me see it." She stuck out her hand and he handed her the wand. She grabbed the broken heel and shoe and placed them next to each other. She mumbled a spell and the broken heel snapped back onto the shoe. She handed the wand back to her friend and made sure the heel was sturdy by trying to move it. When it didn't give she let out a sigh of relief and slipped them back on.

Blaise quickly went to go put his wand back as she glanced at a clock hanging on the wall. She had seven minutes to get back.

As the Slytherin came back into the common room, she reached for his hand and they made their way out, speed walking.

"Thank you, Blaise! You have no idea what this means to me! I owe you so much!" She gave his hand a light squeeze as they made their way up a case of stairs.

"Of course I know how much this competition means to you. You want nothing more than to win this and get back at Sugar Quills for making you lose last year. I wouldn't be here if the competition didn't mean so much to you."

"Really?" She searched his face for any sign of insincerity. She found none.

"Really," he confirmed, making her blush. "And I know how you can repay me for aiding you in your victory. She shot him a questioning look as they continued down a long corridor. "Go out with me."

She turned a darker shade of pink. "What?"

"Allow me to pick you up and take you somewhere so that we can spend time together," he explained as if she were a child.

"Like a date?"

He smirked in a very Slytherin-like manner. "No, like a kidnapping."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course not. It's not kidnapping if I have your permission."

"You want to take me out?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I believe we've clarified that already. Merlin, I knew Weasleys were thick, but I always thought you were an exception."

"Shut up," she demanded, but her bright smile took away the sting of her words. "Well, if it's to repay you, I'd love to go out with you."

"Good, because you have no choice. It was a demand, not an offer," he teased, grinning back at her.

She smacked his arm as they neared the entrance of the Great Hall. As they entered she glanced at the clock and was grateful to see that she had a minute and a half to spare.

She tore her eyes away from the clock and noticed everyone staring at the middle of the dance floor.

She looked as well and saw her best friend standing a foot away from her brother with tears streaming down her cheeks.

She called out to her friend, "'Mione?"

…

Hermione stood, swaying with her boyfriend, wishing desperately for her friend to hurry back. She felt very uncomfortable in Ron's arms, though she tried not to show it.

_This is ridiculous, I shouldn't be feeling uncomfortable in my boyfriend's arms! _Telling herself that didn't help any, though. The discomfort was still there.

She tried to remember the last time she felt comfortable in his embrace, hoping a memory would bring back some of the feeling, but her mind came up blank.

_I never felt so uncomfortable with Draco_, she thought before she could stop herself.

"_Put that down," she told him._

"_No, I don't think that I will."_

"_Draco," she warned._

_He began tossing the snowball up and down in his hand as she began to back away. Without any warning he shot the ball towards her and it hit her shoulder._

_They both bent down and began to work on new snowballs as quickly as they could. Hermione made a small one, threw it, and hit the top of his head._

"_Ow, woman! That hurt!"_

_She stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a look that plainly said she didn't give a flying fuck. She _had_ warned him, after all. _

_He dropped the snowball that was in his hands and charged at her. He threw his arms around her as he slammed into her, causing them both to roll into the snow. _

_When they finally stopped rolling, she was on top of him, both laughing happily. As she looked down at him and noticed his all-black outfit covered in snow, she laughed even harder._

_Once her laughter subsided, she noticed that he was watching her very closely and she felt the heat begin to climb up her neck._

"_We should get going. It should be getting close to dinner."_

"_You don't want to leave here - leave me."_

_She laid her head against his chest. He was right. "I'm not hungry anyway."_

"_What are your plans for the holidays?"_

_She shrugged. "I think I'm going to spend the first few days and Christmas Eve with my parents, then I'll probably spend Christmas with Harry and the Weasleys. After that, I'll probably head back home." She adjusted her arms so that they were wrapped around his neck. "What about you? Anything special planned?"_

"_I'll be spending the holiday at the Manor until late Christmas afternoon. My mother is going to travel to Azkaban so that she can spend Christmas evening with my father. She pulled a few strings and got special permission to visit him. I'll be returning here after she leaves."_

"_You don't want to visit your father?"_

_She felt him shrug underneath her. "I couldn't even if I wanted to. It was difficult enough for my mother to get permission for herself. They refused to grant me permission."_

_Hermione felt anger flare up inside of her. How dare they prevent a son from seeing his father on Christmas! "That's horrible! I-"_

"_I was horrible, Hermione."_

_She glared up at him. "Don't."_

"_I was," he said in a soft voice. "And so was he. We did terrible things and made bad choices. And even though certain choices were made for me, I went along with them. I've changed, but it will take a long time for people to believe it. I'm lucky not to be in there with him. I'll be able to spend Christmas with my mother in the comfort of my own home, and I'm content with that."_

_She looked up at Draco thinking, not for the first time, how much war had changed him. She never would have believed that she would be lying in the snow with his arms wrapped around Draco Malfoy, had anyone told her that before the school year started._

_They said nothing more as they lay wrapped around each other and it began to snow._

She leaned her head on Ron's chest, hoping that it would help some. It didn't.

As the image of Draco lying under her flashed through her head, she was pulled into another memory.

"_What are you doing here?" came a surprised voice._

_She tore her eyes away from the twinkling stars and smiled at his expression. "Well, Merry Christmas to you too, Draco."_

_He walked toward her and she threw her arms around him. "You didn't answer my question."_

"_I'm here to see you, of course. I knew that you'd come straight here once you were settled. You are so predictable." _

_He laughed and released her. "I am not predictable. The only reason you knew I would come here is because you are, obviously, obsessed with me and have been stalking me."_

_She smacked his arm playfully as she pulled him to the edge of the lake so that they could sit._

"_Or maybe you had a vision? Did you borrow one of Trelawney's crystal balls in order to find out where I would go once I arrived, so that you could continue stalking me?" She shot him a glare. He knew she thought divination was just a load of rubbish. "You're not particularly good at it. I could see that hair from the castle!" he teased, grabbing a lock of her hair._

_She shot him a dark look. Her hair was still a touchy subject for her, even if it was considerably more manageable now. "If you saw me, your alleged stalker, from the castle, then why did you still come down?"_

_He smiled and tucked the lock of hair behind her ear. Her breath caught, but, thankfully, he didn't notice. "I figured that, since you went through all the trouble of coming here, I should grace you with my presence."_

_She laughed at his mock-arrogance. "How thoughtful of you."_

"_So what happened, I thought you were spending today with Potter and the Weasels?"_

_She looked out at the lake. "I did spend today with them. I went to the Burrow early this morning and stayed until about two in the afternoon. I got here just an hour ago, actually."_

"_Why didn't you spend the rest of the holiday with them? Aren't they like your second family?"_

"_I wanted to spend Christmas night with you," she said simply. She smirked at the look of bewilderment on his face. Was it really that difficult to believe that she wanted to spend time with him? "I have something for you. Now, before you get too excited, it's nothing big or extravagant."_

_She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dark green velvet box with a red ribbon tied around it._

_He took the box gently and lifted an eyebrow as a smirk graced his lips. "Are you proposing, Granger? Or, should I say Malfoy?"_

"_Shut up and open the bloody box!"_

"_No need. I accept. Now, would you rather marry in the spring or summer? Did you want to wait till after we've graduated? If not, we still have a few days left before classes start, so…"_

"_Open the box, Draco."_

"_Fine." He heaved a sigh and muttered something about not having enough time to pack for the honeymoon. He pulled the ribbon off and lifted the top. She watched as he gingerly picked up a silver chain and brought it closer so that he could examine the charm. It was a silver half-heart._

_He gave her a questioning look. "Why did you give me a half-heart that says 'be frie'?"_

_She pulled out another chain from under her shirt and leaned in to connect her half of the heart to his. "It says 'best friends'. Necklaces and bracelets like this are very popular in the Muggle World." She pulled away from him and took a deep breath before continuing. "My grandparents gave it to me for Christmas when I was eight. They told me to give the other half to someone special - someone who I trusted and was important to me, and that I never wanted to lose. Unfortunately, when I was younger I never had many close friends - let alone someone close enough to give that necklace to - so it sat in the drawer of my bedside table. Untouched."_

_She watched him stroke the half-heart before turning his gaze to her. "Why haven't you given this to Potter, or Weaselbee, or Ginny?"_

"_Truthfully? I forgot all about until just recently. After I began to spend time with you, their voices rang in my head, reminding me of the necklace."_

_He gazed at her for a moment longer before he pulled the chain around his neck and rotated it so that he could see the clasp. After adjusting the necklace he wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you." Pulling away, they both looked out at the lake. He wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into him. He chuckled. "Whoever would've thought that the Golden Girl of the Golden Trio would be best friends with the ex-Death Eater of Hogwarts?"_

Hermione pulled her head away from her Ron's chest and ignored the confused look on his face. Her boyfriend never would have thought that she and Draco would be friends. Hell, she hadn't thought it when they first came back, either. She hadn't even considered it until two weeks after they arrived back.

_She was out for a walk, trying to imagine how things would play out for her dear friend, Ginny._

_She'd just finished talking to the redhead about her feelings toward Harry. Or, to be more accurate, the lack thereof. She'd assured Ginny that Harry would understand, but warned he that others probably wouldn't. Everyone saw Harry as the great war hero and most girls were envious of Ginny because she had him. The shrieking fan-girls would not like the fact that her best friend was breaking the heart of The-Boy-Who-Lived._

_Harry deserved to be with a girl who loved him as much as he loved her. Ginny wasn't that girl anymore. She loved Harry, she really did, but she would stand by Ginny on this matter. Ginny was going to be attacked from left and right. _

_Without realizing it, her feet had carried her to the lake. _

_She saw a head of white-blonde hair sitting down and decided to join him. She knew that he was just as effected by the war as everyone else, probably more effected than most, in fact. She realized that talking to him could be pointless and an utter waste of her time and energy, but she had nothing to lose._

_She closed the distance between them and sat down next to him. _

_He shot her a look that was hard to read and waited for her to say something. When she said nothing - just stared out at the lake - he did._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I'm here to see you, of course," she smirked at the scowl on his face._

"_And why would you want to see me, Granger?"_

_She shrugged, "Why wouldn't I?"_

"_You're the Gryffindor Princess."_

"_And you're the ex-Death Eater, what's your point, Malfoy?"_

_He stood up and glared down at her. "That _is _my point, Granger! We're enemies and you shouldn't be near me."_

_She shook her head. "We _were_ enemies. Past tense, Malfoy."_

_She stood up as he began to walk away, and grabbed his arm. "Look," she started gently, "I don't know much of what you went through, but I know that this war took a toll on you. A larger toll than it took on most. It may not seem like it now, but things will get better."_

"_Why do you act like this?"_

"_Act like what?"_

"_Like a bloody ray of sunshine. You can't possibly be this persistently perky all the time, can you?"_

"_One, I'm not 'perky'. I don't do perky. Two, no I'm not always so optimistic. Just like you, hopefully, aren't always such a pompous prat."_

"_I'm not!" he yelled, yanking his arm away._

"_Good. If you ever find a time when you're not a prat, come find me. I'd love to get to know that side of you. You're not the only one trying to recover, and you most certainly don't have to try to deal with things alone, Malfoy." She turned and started for the castle._

"_Hey, Granger!" She turned to meet his gaze. "It's Draco."_

"_Hey, Draco! It's Hermione." She gave him a hesitant smile and a small wave as she turned to head back to the castle. _

Adjusting her arms around Ron's neck, Hermione glanced at the two Slytherins a short distance behind him. "He's still there."

"What?" he asked. He'd been spacing out.

"Draco. He's still there. I can't believe he's still there."

Scowling at the use of Malfoy's first name, Ron shrugged. "Just ignore him."

"Yeah," she nodded, tearing her eyes away from the two. "You know, he said that he was here to support his friends, but all of the Slytherin couples dropped out hours ago. He's just trying to annoy me, sitting there right in front of me, staring. Git."

Her eyes were brought back to the couple as she heard Parkinson's loud, shrill voice, "I'm bored."

"Okay." He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer. He leaned in closer and she met him halfway, fisting her hand into his hair.

"There they go again! Merlin, I swear, why can't they just get a room? Or forget a room - get a park bench, or a doorway, or even a strategically placed telephone booth would probably suffice. I mean, girls like Pansy - what is it with them? Don't they know what they act like? I'm sure being a pure-blood should constitute having _some_ sense of decency!"

"Hey, you talking about me?" Draco asked as he pulled away from his girlfriend.

"No."

"I heard you mention Pansy."

"Pansy isn't you."

"Pansy concerns me."

"Pansy concerns me, too - and all of the people in this room, for that matter."

"Do you got a problem here?"

"Nope. Just a little sick of seeing the two of you sitting there. If you're not going to participate, then why don't you just leave?"

Pansy rolled her eyes and grabbed a hold of the blonde's hand. "That works for me. Let's go."

He pulled his hand out of hers. "No."

"Why not?" Hermione demanded.

"Because I'm not ready to go."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. I'm going to sit here as long as I like, and I'm going to do whatever I like, and if you don't like it, then just ignore me and pay attention to your boyfriend."

"Sorry, she can't," the redheaded male interpreted. He pulled her arms from around his neck. "I'm not her boyfriend anymore."

"What?" the Gryffindor witch asked as her boyfriend took a small step away from her.

"You know, I tried to ignore this. I really did, but I don't know what the bloody hell I was thinking."

She took a step closer. "What are you talking about, Ronald?"

He was shouting now. "You don't wanna be with me, Hermione."

"Y-Yes, I do," she choked out. She felt the tears began to form at the back of her eyes, but blinked them away.

"Oh, please! You've been into him," he pointed at the Slytherin for emphasis, "since we got back to school, and I have spent weeks - months, actually - trying to convince myself that it wasn't true, that everything was fine between us. But now I know that I was an idiot. You're into him and he's into you, and Pansy, who by the way he's only dating to get back at you, should be listening to this 'cause it's so damn obvious."

"What's obvious? What did I do?"

"Everyone can see, Hermione! Everyone. And I'm tired, but I'm over it, so go ahead, go. Be together. There's nothing standing in your way now, because I'm out."

He walked past her toward the exit.

She followed. "Don't you _dare_ do this, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" She grabbed his arm and yanked on it so that he would face her. "Don't you dare say things that you bloody well know aren't true, and don't you dare blame our relationship failure on me!

"You know that I have not liked Draco 'since we got back to school,' you know that I was unsure of our friendship when we first started to get to know each other. You've been convinced from Day One, however that we were romantically involved, which is absolutely absurd because you know that I would never cheat on you! Which is more than I can say for you!"

He went rigid and opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him.

"That's right!" she yelled, hurt evident in her voice. "I walked in on you and Lavender Brown in the Room of Requirement three weeks after first term started! _Three weeks_!" Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. "And you didn't even notice because you were too busy _fucking_ her!"

She wiped the tears away and cleared her throat. "And I let it go because I thought that you loved me, and that you wanted us to work. And now I think I understand why you've been paranoid this whole time - that wasn't the last time you cheated, was it?"

He said nothing as he refused to meet her eye.

"Was it?" she demanded.

"No."

She bit her lip and nodded as she tried to force the tears to stop. "You were wrong, Ronald. I'm the idiot, not you."

"'Mione?"

…

As she looked at her best friend, Hermione suddenly realized where she was. She looked around and saw that everyone was staring at her.

Ginny began to walk towards her friend - ready to kill her brother who was standing next to her, looking guilty - when a voice caused her to stop.

"They're out! They're out! We won! We won!" Corner yelled as he jumped up and down. Dropping his partner's hand he ran to the podium where Slughorn and McGonagall sat. "Granger let go of Weasley, when they started fighting!" he exclaimed gleefully. "That's against the rules!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and ran to her crying best friend, taking her in her arms. Corner could have the bloody trophy, she needed to tend to the crying girl in her arms.

Before Ginny could tell him this, Headmistress McGonagall interrupted his cries of joy. "Actually, Mr. Corner, since Mr. Weasley was not Ms. Granger's actual partner, she is allowed to break contact. Ms. Smith, however, _is_ your partner and you dropped her hand. Since Ms. Weasley had about fifteen seconds before her yellow card expired when she wrapped her arms around Ms. Granger, they are the winners."

Ginny and Hermione look around and realized that they and Corner his date were the only couples on the dance floor. The other two couples dropped out when Hermione wasn't paying attention.

Hermione smiled at her friend through her tears. "Go get your trophy."

Ginny smiled and pulled Hermione with her as she walked up to the podium to get their award.

Hermione forced a small smile as someone snapped a picture of the champions.

"Ginny, I'll tell you everything later." With that, Hermione ran out of the Great Hall.

…

She watched the sun's reflection on the lake as she wondered how things were going to play out when she went back to the castle.

"Weasley's a git. Yelling at you like that, breaking up in front of everybody. . .the guy's a total git."

"He is, but he's also right about some things. Most of what he said. All those things about you and me, all those things about me lying to him, and us having feelings for each other while I was with him. He was right." She looked at the silver-eyed boy beside her. "Well, wasn't he?" He dropped his gaze to the ground. She bit her lip, trying to keep more tears from falling. "Fine, he was right about me, then. Now go away." She crossed her arms and looked back to the lake.

"He was right. . . about all of it."

"So, what now?"

He met her gaze and stared. "You're definitely broken up with Weasley?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm definitely broken up with Ronald."

He pressed a light kiss to her temple. "Okay. I have to go take care of something then." He grabbed her hand and gave it a gently squeeze as he turned and jogged to the castle.

**...**

_**A/N: And that concludes this episode of Gryffindor Girls! I will be going back and editing my chapters, but otherwise this story is complete.**_

_**I want to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to this story! I appreciate all of the love, and it means a lot to me! **_

_**Thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think about the ending!**_

_**-Jess**_


	7. I Know

Surprise! I lied!

Chapter 7

I Know

"We hate you," grumbled an extremely tired redhead as she pulled her large trophy closer to her.

"No you don't!" chimed two voices in reply.

"No, I think she's right," said a curly-haired witch as she let out a yawn. "We hate you."

"If you really did hate us, you wouldn't have come with us," reasoned the darker-skinned Slytherin.

"We were abducted!" cried the younger girl. "You two lifted us up and carried us away from our warm, comfortable…" she yawned, "sleep."

"If you wanted us to stop, I'm sure 'Mione would've thought of some spell to attack us with," the blonde boy pointed out.

"Actually, I've tried making your heads explode several times since our abduction. Unfortunately, I'm too exhausted to actually make it happen." She nuzzled deeper into the blonde's chest.

"I'd beat you with my trophy, but it's too pretty to get blood on."

The boys exchanged smirks.

…

_Hermione walked through the portrait to find Ginny curled up on a red couch with a blanket and her well-earned trophy._

"'_Mione! There you are! Are you okay? Where did you run off to?"_

_The older witch walked over and plopped onto the couch with her friend. Ginny moved closer and offered her friend some of her blanket. After Hermione settled under the blanket, she leaned her against the couch back and closed her eyes._

"_I was down by the lake. I assume you were told about my little outburst?"_

_Ginny gave a small nod. "You walked in on them. Why didn't you tell me? I would've hexed him into oblivion!"_

"_That's exactly why!" Hermione sat up to explain. "You would have told me I deserved better, and ripped his throat out, and called him a no good piece of rubbish! I wasn't ready to believe that. I wanted to believe that we could make things work. I thought Lavender was just a fling, a one-time thing. Evidently, I was wrong."_

_The younger girl gave a nod of agreement and understanding. She slapped her brother after Neville explained what had been revealed about Ron's extra-curricular activities. Her mother would be hearing about it later._

"_Draco met me out by the lake," Hermione added after a moment. Chuckling at her friend's eager expression, she continued, "It turns out he reciprocates my feelings."_

"_Of course he does!" She rolled her eyes. "What happened next?"_

"_He asked me if Ronald and I were officially done, and I said yes. Then he said he had to go take care of something and left… What happened with Zabini?"_

_A bright smile spread across the young witch's face. "He asked me out on a date!"_

"_When did this happen?" Hermione asked excitedly._

"_When we were walking back to the dance. He says it's his payment for helping me win. He said that he wouldn't have volunteered in the competition if it didn't mean so much to me."_

"_I told you!"_

"_Yes, well you are the brightest witch of our age."_

_Hermione undid the braid her hair was in and leaned back against the couch. "I'm really tired."_

"_So am I," Ginny admitted. "Thank you so much for doing this with me."_

"_Anything for you, Gin."_

_Hermione closed her eyes and Ginny followed suit. Within minutes the two girls were slumbering peacefully._

_After what felt like only minutes, but was actually an hour, both girls were being gently shaken awake._

"_I don't know who you are, but prepare to die a slow and painful death!" Ginny groaned as she opened one eye to make sure her trophy was still next to her. _

"_Now Ginevra, you wouldn't kill the keeper of the coffee, would you?" Said girl turned her attention to the boy lifting her from the soft couch._

"_Zabini? How the bloody hell did you get in here?" _

"_Longbottom let us in," a voice came from Ginny's left-hand side. "C'mon, love, time to get up," the other Slytherin cooed as her took the older witch into his arms, bridal-style._

_Hermione let out a whimper as she was pulled away from the warmth of her temporary bed. "Go away!" she cried weakly._

_Malfoy looked down at her. "Never again," he whispered._

"_We have a surprise for you two," explained Blaise. He started to walk toward the portrait until the girl in his arms stopped him. _

"_I'm not going anywhere without my trophy, Zabini! Turn around."_

_He did as she demanded and then the two boys exited the room with the girls in their arms._

"_Where are we going?" Hermione asked._

"_It's a surprise," Draco said._

_Both girls snickered. "Well, my eyelids are too heavy to keep up, so I'll just keep my eyes closed 'til we arrive." Hermione nodded in agreement and shut her eyes as well._

_Blaise shrugged. "Works for us."_

…

The girls felt the boys stop walking and assumed they'd reached their destination. Hermione felt Draco pace back and forth and knew where they were immediately. Ginny reached the same conclusion as she heard Draco's soft footfalls.

"We're here," the boys said, stepping into the room and setting the girls on their feet.

The Room of Requirement looked like a smaller version of what the Great Hall had looked like that morning. The only houses represented in the decorations, though, were Slytherin and Gryffindor. And in the middle of the dance floor was a round wooden table with four places set on a red and white checkerboard tablecloth. There were also several plates of bacon, toast, and eggs in the center. The Gryffindors gaped in awe as the boys led them to the table. After helping with their chairs, the boys seated themselves.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Blaise snapped his fingers and rose from his chair. He jogged over to a table and made his way back. "Coffee," he stated holding up two thermoses. He gave one to each girl.

"Blaise, I love you!" cried Hermione as she handed her thermos to Draco.

"Hey!" Draco cried.

They all laughed and began to serve themselves.

…

Music began to play quietly and Blaise asked Ginny to accompany him on the dance floor.

"Zabini, I just participated in a twenty-four hour dance marathon. Do you honestly think I want to dance with you?"

"Yes."

The redhead couldn't fight the smile that graced her lips. "Fine, you git, let's dance."

The dark-skinned boy led her out to the floor and placed his hands on her hips as they began to sway gently with the music.

"So does this count as my payment?"

"I don't think so, Weasley. This is something Malfoy and I cooked up together, so it doesn't count."

She let out a laugh and rested her head against his chest. "Whatever you say, Blaise."

"Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"I think you're amazing."

"I know," she smirked.

"I want you to be mine."

She pulled her head away so that she was able to look at him. "I know," she whispered. "And I want you to be mine."

It was his turn to smirk. "I know." He leaned in to capture her lips.

…

Hermione smiled after her friends as they began to sway.

"They look happy," Draco said as he pulled his chair closer to hers.

"They do. Ginny's had feelings for him since first term."

"He's been interested in her since sixth year. His feelings got stronger when they started talking this year."

"Really?" she asked turning her attention to him. "She was afraid that he wouldn't feel the same about her. I told her she had nothing to worry about!"

He only nodded. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I broke it off with Pansy."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I only dated her because I was hurt and angry."

"I understand… So what now?"

Draco pushed a lock of hair away from her face and took her hands in his. "You are the best person that I've ever known. You never cease to amaze me. This school year has been the best one of my life, despite all of the persecution and hate that I've had to deal with, and that's all because of you. You're my best friend. And now it's time for us to do what we've wanted to do for a very long time: be together."

Hermione pulled her hand away from his and stroked the side of his face. Letting it rest there, she leaned in and he met her halfway, cupping her face in both hands. They pulled away, foreheads still touching, and Hermione took his hands and intertwined them with hers.

"You know I love you, right?" Draco asked.

"I know," Hermione breathed. "I wish I hadn't spent so much time with Ronald. I wasted so much of the time I could've spent with you. I've been in love with you since before Christmas break."

"I know."

She leaned in, trying to make up for lost time.

**...**

_**A/N: So, I got a review from forever-and-a-day98 saying that the last chapter was a "crap ending." And I agree completely. It was totally unfair to leave you guys hanging since I was dying to find out what would happen after I saw this episode of **_**Gilmore Girls**_**. I was actually planning to write another chapter sooner, but school completely drained me and I need at least four hours of sleep to get through the day. I apologize for its late arrival, but here it is! I hope this is more satisfying! :)**_

_**Cover Photo:  
>-The cover image is from <strong>_**They Sh****oot Gilmore Girls, Don't They? _Going from left to right it's Kirk (Michael Corner), Lorelai Gilmore (Ginny), and Rory Gilmore (Hermione). Ginny and Hermione's hair correspond with the way Lorelai and Rory have their hair. Their dresses are obviously, not the same. Just picture them in place of the _Gilmore Girls_ characters! ^-^_**


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